Watch Junior Johnson stalk the field as he scores a cunning victory in the 1960 Daytona 500.
Here’s one of the great stories in stock car racing lore. In the 1960 Daytona 500, Junior Johnson didn’t have the fastest or the most powerful car. No, he had a year-old 1959 Chevrolet under him, one that was prepared barely days earlier. And it was powered by a lowly 348 CID V8, outclassed by the muscular new 389 CID engines the Pontiacs were boasting that year.
Unfazed by the competitive disadvantage, the clever Johnson patiently stalked the field, using the aerodynamic draft to stay in contact with the Pontiac of Bobby Johns and the Plymouths of Lee and Richard Petty. With only nine laps remaining, the rear window on Johns’ Smokey Yunick-prepared Pontiac blew out, spinning him into the infield. Johns was able to continue, but by then Johnson was long gone, scoring the greatest victory of his young career.
Housekeeping note: At around the 2:30 mark in our little film, there’s generous coverage of a massive 37-car crash (the first Big One at Daytona, we could say). While the editing suggests this pileup was part of the 500-mile Grand National feature, in truth it took place in the Sportsman race that year. That bug aside, this film is an excellent six-minute snapshot of one of the great races in Daytona history. Please enjoy.
Pasadena’s Bill Stammer ran only two races in Grand National in 1954, Oakland and Gardena. Both were 1/2 mile dirt tracks and he finished 16th and 17th respectively. At that time, Grand National was NASCAR’s highest level and those two races were notable because they were the only appearances of a ’53-’54 Pontiac during a time when the schedule included more than 35 races a year.
Stammer’s career also included a run in 1955 at the 2.5 mile Willow Springs Speedway driving a Chevrolet. This race was conspicuous for being NASCAR’s first road course race on dirt.
The More You Know…
Private video?
Fixed, sorry.